Countdown on to Bute’s annual raft race

The Brianne Roberts Trust crew make slow but steady progress during the 2013 Isle of Bute Sailing Club raft race. This year's event will take place on Sunday, August 10, starting from Children's Corner at 1pm.

Craig Borland

The clock is ticking ahead of one of the most eagerly-awaited events of Bute’s summer calendar - the Isle of Bute Sailing Club’s annual raft race.

This year the event has been switched from its previous Saturday slot to a Sunday - August 10, to be precise - with the organisers hoping that the move will result in even more local interest in what is always a fun spectacle.

As in previous years, the race begins at Children’s Corner on the Rothesay seafront, and there will once again be prizes for the first raft past the finishing line at the Isle of Bute Sailing Club and for the best dressed raft.

The latter prize will this year take the form of a trophy donated in memory of David Gaston, who died suddenly on August 10 last year and was a regular supporter of the race as a crew member on the Co-op’s raft.

The David Gaston Memorial Cup has been made available through the efforts of Light Up Bute, which is also organising fund-raising stalls on shore during the course of this year’s race.

The entry fee is by way of a £5 donation to the Isle of Bute Sailing Club for each person competing, while the race will be followed by a barbecue at the club’s HQ in Ardbeg Road. For more information on the race, and to see a copy of the rules in full, contact Lorna Campbell on (01700) 502351.